The Mid-Atlantic NORC is now completing its first five-year funding period. Despite this relatively short period of time, we have achieved a number of notable accomplishments. The remarkable successes of the Mid-Atlantic NORC have been made possible by capitalizing on our greatest strength: an outstanding spirit of cooperation and interaction of research efforts among Mid-Atlantic NORC members across disciplines and across institutions. We have also been extremely successful in leveraging Mid-Atlantic NORC resources for maximal benefit with other resources including the Baltimore VA GRECC, UMB Claude D. Pepper Center, the UMB Program in Genetics and Genomic Medicine, the Baltimore Diab etes Research and Training Center Mid-Atlantic NORC participating institutions, JHU, Geisinger Health System, and the USDA. There has also been substantial institutional support for the Mid-Atlantic NORC and its missions.